College Basketball Daily

NCAA Tourney Update: 3rd round results

Midwest Region

6 Tennessee 76
2 Ohio St. 73
The Tennessee Volunteers advanced past the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history off a spirited effort on both ends of the floor, knocking off the #2 seeded Buckeyes. Wayne Chism had one of the best all-around efforts of his exemplary collegiate career with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

The action in this game was frenetic from start to finish, as the lead changed hands repeatedly and neither team was able to establish a comfortable lead at any point. Ohio State's Evan Turner finished with 32 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

9 Northern Iowa 52
5 Michigan St. 59
The Spartans finally wrested away a lead late in the second half from the very capable Panthers and held on for the win. Michigan State's Durrell Summers paced the scoring with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Summers' seven rebounds were also high for the game. Michigan State will play Tennessee in one of two Sunday contests.

South Region

3 Baylor 72
10 St. Mary's 49
St. Mary's was put away early by the quicker and more athletic Bears, who dominated the Gaels in every way. LaceDarius Dunn paced all scorers with 24 points, including a 4-for-6 effort from 3-point range. Baylor was so completely dominant, the score at half time was 46-17.

4 Purdue 57
1 Duke 70
With both teams contesting every pass, shot and rebound, the tight defensive postures produced a low-scoring first half that had Duke up by a 24-23 score. The game remained tight until just after midway through the second period, when Nolan Smith scored 7 straight points on a pair of runners in the lane and a 3-pointer, to expand Duke's advantage to 9, and Purdue never recovered.

Kyle Singer had 24 points for the Blue Devils, Jon Scheyer added 18 and Nolan smith finished with 15. The Blue Devils face Baylor in the regional final Sunday.

NCAA Conference Scoreboard (through games of March 26)

Conference W-L
ACC (6-5)
Atlantic-10 (2-3)
Big East (7-7)
Big Ten (8-4)
Big 12 (9-4)
Conference-USA (0-2)
Mountain West (2-4)
PAC-10 (3-2)
SEC (6-2)
West Coast (3-2)
Western Athletic (0-2)
Other (10-18)

*Conferences with only one tournament team listed as "Other."

Labels: Baylor Bears, Duke Blue Devils, Michigan State Spartans, Tennessee Volunteers

NCAA Tourney Update: 2nd round results

Midwest Region

6 Tennessee 83
14 Ohio 68
Coach Bruce pearl let everyone get into the act as ten Tennessee players scored in the Vols second round win over upset-minded Ohio. The Bobcats stunned #3 seed Georgetown on Thursday to advance, but proved to be no match for Tennessee.

West Region

5 Butler 54
13 Murray St. 52
It wasn't very pretty, but the Butler Bulldogs, shooting only 36% for the entire game, survived a duel with fellow small-school rival Murray State to advance to the regional semi-finals. Sophomore Ronald Nored led the Bulldogs with 15 points and 6 assists. Horizon League player of the year, Gordon Hayward, scored 12 and pulled down 7 rebounds.

Labels: Butler Bulldogs, Tennessee Volunteers

NCAA Tourney Update

Midwest Region

1 Kansas 90
16 Lehigh 74
Marcus Morris led Kansas with 26 points and 10 rebounds, as the tournament's top seed cruised past Lehigh. The Jayhawks will face #9 Northern Iowa in the second round.

6 Tennessee 62
11 San Diego St. 59
On a day in which 5 double-digit seeds won, Tennessee squeaked past San Diego State to advance to the second round against the University of Ohio Bobcats, upset winners over Georgetown, on Saturday. Melvin Goins, who hadn't scored in his previous two games, came up big down the stretch with key shots to carry the Vols to victory. Goins, who was 4 of 5 from 3-point range, joined teammate J.P. Prince with 15 points apiece.

East Region

9 Wake Forest 81
8 Texas 80 OT
Battling back from 8 points down in overtime, the Demon Deacons dispatched Texas in the opening round. The Longhorns, once ranked #1 in the nation, have to be considered the biggest collapse of the season. Led by forward Al-Farouq Aminu's 20 points and 15 rebounds, Wake Forest survived a see-saw affair, also getting 19 points and 12 boards from Ishmael Smith. The Deacons will face top-seeded Kentucky in the second round

3 New Mexico 62
14 Montana 57
Montana didn't make it easy on New Mexico, keeping the game close until the final minute, but the Lobos prevailed as Dairese Gary carried the team down the stretch. Roman Martinez led the Lobos in scoring with 19 points. Gary had 15. New Mexico will face #11 Washington in the second round.

NCAA Conference Scoreboard (through games of March 18)

Conference W-L
ACC 1-0
Atlantic-10 0-1
Big East 1-3
Big Ten 0-0
Big 12 3-1
Conference-USA 0-1
Mountain West 2-2
PAC-10 1-0
SEC 2-2
West Coast 1-0
Western Athletic 0-0
Other 5-6

*Conferences with only one tournament team listed as "Other."

Labels: Kansas Jayhawks, New Mexico Lobos, Tennessee Volunteers, Wake Forest Deamon Deacons

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, January 10, 2010

Tennessee's harassing defense held the #1 Jayhawks in check and the Volunteers stunned Kansas, 76-68, Sunday.

Senior guard Bobby Maze contributed greatly to the offensive success for Tennessee, scoring 16 points, but more importantly, distributing the rock with 8 assists and securing it with 7 rebounds. Maze played 33 minutes, his season-high, and was aided in the upset by teammates Rolando Woolridge and Scotty Hopson, who tallied 14 and 17 points, respectively.

The Vols held Kansas to just 38% shooting and induced 16 turnovers, while giving it up just 7 times. The outcome of the game, which wasn't decided until the closing minute, could have been worse for Kansas, as the Vols were horrible from the foul line, hitting just 15 of 29 free throws (52%).

When the new poll is released later today, Kansas should drop to #3 or further down, with Texas #1 and Kentucky #2. They are the only remaining undefeated teams in the country.

NOTABLE: After six Top 25 upsets on Saturday, half of the six Top 25 Sunday games ended with underdogs on top. In addition to Kansas, #18 Florida St. was dumped at Maryland, 77-68, and #24 Washington was routed at Arizona 87-70. Some new faces and new places are expeced in this week's poll.

Labels: Bobby Maze, Tennessee Volunteers

College Hoops Player of the Day for Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tennessee 124, N.C. Asheville 49 - 13 different Volunteers scored, but sophomore guard Scotty Hopson was filling up the stat sheet quicker than anyone else, tallying 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including hitting 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Hopson added 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a pair of steals in the all-around effort. Best of all, he did his damage in just 23 minutes on the floor. Hopson averaged 9.2 ppg last season. This year he's up to 25.5 after two games, though the competition gets tougher after December.

Notable: The College Tip-Off Marathon was a smashing success for ESPN and college hoops, especially with the two premier games going down to the wire. Gonzaga pushed #2 Michigan St. to the limit, with the Spartans finally prevailing, 75-71. Right on the heels of that contest, #1 Kansas went toe-to-toe with Memphis for the full 40, finally dropping the Tigers, 57-55. Close calls for the top two teams (preseason rankings) suggests that this season will be much like many past: lots of upsets and a general carousel around the top 10.

Louisville's Reggie Delk: 20 points, 8-9 (4-5, 3s), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 22 minutes. (Louisville 96, Arkansas 66)

Labels: Louisville Cardinals, Reggie Delk, Scotty Hopson, Tennessee Volunteers

The conference most overlooked this season - at some points not even having a representative in the Top 25 - is the SEC, where LSU and Tennessee seemed most likely to reach the conference tournament finals, Mississippi State came out of the shadows and emerged as the giant-killer and potential Cinderella.

The Bulldogs swamped the Tigers in a 67-57 defensive battle, wherein nether team shot better than 33%.

In the other half of the draw, Tennessee easily handled Auburn, 94-83, as Wayne Chism scored 27 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to pace the Vols.

Tennessee faces Mississippi St. in the conference final Sunday afternoon.

Labels: Mississippi St. Bulldogs, SEC Tournament, Tennessee Volunteers

Hanging around the upper echelon of the SEC East for the entire season, but never regarded as a threat, the Tennessee Volunteers (10-5, 19-10) got right when the getting was good, downing front-running South Carolina for the second time this season, this time on the Gamecocks' home court.

Tyler Smith. J.P. Prince and Wayne Chism stepped into their leadership roles gradually this season after the departure of 2007-08 leader Chris Lofton, but finally have gelled into the solid unit which delivered the death blows that knocked off the Gamecocks, 86-70 and captured the SEC West title.

In a truly dominating performance, Smith scored a game high 22 points, Prince had 20 and Chism finished with 15.

The game was close until the about five minutes into the second half when the Vols went on a tear that would seal the victory. Leading by just four at the half, the Vols stretched their lead to as many as 17 as time wound under six minutes. They would eventually lead by 20 as the clock ran down.

After losses by both Kentucky and Florida on Wednesday, the Volunteers found themselves in a flatfooted tie with South Carolina for the top spot in the SEC East at 9-5 and made the most of their opportunity. The result of their final regular season home game, on Saturday against Alabama (6-9, 16-13) is now immaterial, as they lay claim the division crown.

Elsewhere, in Top 25 action, #11 Villanova laid waste to the Providence Friars, 97-80, casting serious doubt on the Friars' post-season aspirations. The Wildcats (25-6, 13-5) are a shoo-in for a #3 or 4 seeding in the NCAAs, but the 18-12, 10-8 Friars will spend the next two weeks sitting atop the tournament bubble. Unless they produce some magic in next week's Big East tournament, their chances of making the NCAA field are virtually nil.

Labels: SEC, Tennessee Volunteers

The last time Bruce Pearl's Tennessee Volunteers faced Kentucky, Jodie Meeks went off for 54 points in a 90-72 Kentucky rout, so he and his players were determined to stop Meeks when the SEC foes met at Rupp Arena on Saturday.

The Vols accomplished one goal - limiting Meeks to a pedestrian 14 points - but the rest of Kentucky's troops rose to the occasion for a dominating 77-58 win.

Tennessee put themselves into a big hole, unable to score for the first 8 minutes of the game, missing all seven shots and turning the ball over five times before finally getting on the board. By then, though, Kentucky led 15-2, and even though the Vols got to within 7 points by halftime, they just could not compete with the fired-up Wildcats, who are on a mission to take the SEC East division and finish impressively enough to snag a bid for the NCAA tournament.

Midway through the second half, the Wildcats opened up a 22-point lead, and kept the Vols at bay the rest of the way. Patrick Patterson put up a game-high 19 points on 9-12 shooting, many of them on dunks, and Darius Miller threw down 17, with a perfect 6-for-6 shooting performance, including 3 three-pointers.

The day began with 4 teams - Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida - all tied for the division lead at 7-4. By mid-afternoon, the Wildcats had earned at least a share of the top spot, as Florida and SC each played later in the day (more in subsequent posts).

The win puts Kentucky in a good spot at 19-8 and 8-4, with just four more regular season games remaining, while dropping the Vols to 16-10 and 7-5 and a likely end to their post-season hopes.

Three of those four games for Kentucky are against some of the best teams in the SEC, however. On Feb. 25, they travel to South Carolina, returning home on the 28th to host LSU and then Georgia on March 4, before finishing at Florida on the 7th.

Should the Wildcats reach the NCAAs, they will have trouble advancing very far as they are undersized inside and are often out of position on defense. They will need maximum production from Meeks the rest of the season, no matter how long it extends.

Labels: Kentucky Wildcats, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers